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Design

The Balancing Act of Creative Direction

August 2, 2018 —

The Balancing Act of Creative Direction

The Journey Is the Destination When I was studying fiction at San Francisco State University, I had a professor that used to say, “If you know exactly what you want to write about, then why are you writing it?” It was a soft-ball criticism aimed at a particular kind of writer. Those that came in overconfident, inflexible, and usually with their entire story already mapped out beat for beat. In their rigid defense of what they thought the story should be, they missed the opportunity to truly discover what it is or what it could be. If there’s no journey of discovery, no unanswered questions...
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Educate, Activate, Accelerate: Three Tips for Bringing Design to Life

July 3, 2018 —

Educate, Activate, Accelerate: Three Tips for Bringing Design to Life

Working on a brand project can feel a lot like being back in school. You do your homework, you research, you drink coffee late into the evening. And just like graduating, there comes a crucial moment at the end of the journey where the agency hands off the assets. This hard-earned diploma might be a new visual identity, a new website, or even just a new logo. As far as the SOW is concerned, the “work” is over — but of course, this is where the real work begins: activation. Sure, you may have a framed degree on the wall, but if you’re not taking active steps to bring those lessons to life,...
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Emotive Design Is Felt in the Gut

May 24, 2018 —

Emotive Design Is Felt in the Gut

This week, we had the pleasure of adding Beth Abrahamson as a Senior Designer to our team. She is a multidisciplinary graphic designer whose practice challenges the distinction between art and design. Constantly shifting in and out of different mediums – collage, ceramics, photography, drawing – she’s an expert at imagining how these forms can live in the digital world. With an MFA in Design from California College of the Arts, Beth has recently worked with AirBnB, Southern Exposure, San Francisco Art Institute, and many others. We sat down with Beth to discuss her work, the importance of...
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Brand Is the Best Foundation for Growth

May 8, 2018 —

Brand Is the Best Foundation for Growth

Emotive Brand Experts #6: Kelly Morgan Continuing our Emotive Brand Experts series, we’re interviewing past and present Emotive Brand clients to discover what they do better than anybody else — and how that expertise can be used to embolden your brand today. Kelly Morgan is Head of Marketing at Lyra, a startup that’s transforming behavioral healthcare. We’ve been working with Kelly to rebrand Lyra, and they just launched their new brand last week. In addition, they’ve secured their next series of funding! Kelly spoke with us to discuss key learnings from the rebranding process. What was the...
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How to Bring in a Branding Agency (And Still Thrive as a Creative Director)

April 3, 2018 —

How to Bring in a Branding Agency (And Still Thrive as a Creative Director)

Agency or Enemy? If you’re a Creative Director, chances are you’re some lovely mix of imagination, diplomacy, market knowledge, and damn good design sense. You bring focus to every project. You know how to communicate across disciplines and departments. After all, that’s why you were hired. So why in God’s name would you ever need to bring in an outside branding agency? And if by some cruel twist of fate you’re forced into this position, how do you avoid effectively hiring your replacement? If You’re Reading This Creative Brief, We’re Already Behind Schedule...
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On Design, Branding, and Where the “Brand Magic” Happens: Interview with Emotive Brand Creative Director

February 15, 2018 —

On Design, Branding, and Where the “Brand Magic” Happens: Interview with Emotive Brand Creative Director

Interview with Jane Brown, Creative Director Jane joins Emotive Brand with over 20 years of experience developing corporate and brand identities ranging from global corporations to startups – bringing both agency and client-side, as well as print and digital media expertise to the table. Jane has built a reputation around delivering high-level thinking and design systems that enable new brands to compete in crowded marketplaces and venerable brands to deepen their relevance. In this interview, Jane shares her point of view on branding challenges, client-agency relationships, collaboration,...
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Brand Identity. What’s Your Type?

December 19, 2017 —

Brand Identity. What’s Your Type?

Brand Identity, typography, typeface… it’s all part of your brand and its story A brand identity is critical to get right. A typeface helps shape the stories a brand tells. It sets the tone of a brand. Typography is in many ways the first impression and introduction to your audience. According to Sarah Hyndman, “Typography is like the clothes a person wears; it tells the world who they are and who they want to be.” Typography, in other words, is one of the most important aspects of your brand. A few things to consider when selecting a typeface for your brand: Align with brand...
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Want Better, Faster Design? Bring Your Creatives to Strategy Meetings

November 14, 2017 —

Want Better, Faster Design? Bring Your Creatives to Strategy Meetings

Emotive Brand Expert #4: Eve Maidenberg Continuing our Emotive Brand Experts series, we’re interviewing past and present Emotive Brand clients to discover what they do better than anybody else – and how that expertise can be used to embolden your brand today. In this post, we speak with Eve Maidenberg, the Creative Services Director at Stitch Fix. Before that, she was a VP of Marketing at Marqeta. *** Left Brain vs. Right Brain Strategists and creatives are the left and right brains of a branding agency. In every project, you need the right mix of sequencing and imagination, linear thinking...
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Looking to Design Better Brand Experiences? Consider the Potential of Experience Design

October 4, 2022 —

Looking to Design Better Brand Experiences? Consider the Potential of Experience Design

Big Challenges in Branding As a brand strategy and design agency, we’re deeply immersed with what’s happening in the brand world. Sometimes, we are so focused on building the best solutions for our clients that we have to remind ourselves to take a step back and assess the big-picture challenges facing brands today. Emotive Brand, did just this and attended the Design Gurus Summit and the Digital Design & Web Innovation Summit in San Francisco. Four days, many talks, panels, and iPad notes later, here’s what David learned: Nailing experience design is what may make or break a brand...
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